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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397028">MADE FOR THE HUNT</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RewriteParagraph/pseuds/RewriteParagraph'>RewriteParagraph</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood Magic, Bonding, Boys In Love, Dark, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Imprisonment, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic Revealed, Muggle/Wizard Relations, Mutual Pining, Non-Canon Relationship, Oaths &amp; Vows, Pining, Revenge, Romance, Sane Tom Riddle, Sexual Tension, Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:34:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RewriteParagraph/pseuds/RewriteParagraph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short piece based on the following tumblr prompt by <b>Cypherparadox</b>:</p><p>  <i>“Before there was Voldemort, there was Grindelwald, a dark wizard who started a war with the muggles and nomajs. With magic now known to the non magicals, it comes with it the need for secrecy. To put it simply, witches and wizards are being hunted down for experiments and execution. Harry Potter's parents were executed when he was only a baby after the British government found them in possession of magical texts. Instead of killing baby Harry, they placed him in an orphanage. The same orphanage that one Tom Riddle lives in. What follows is enemies to friends to lovers as they try to band together to bring the Wizarding world back together.”</i></p><p>Edited and by the lovely <b>Kash</b>!</p><p> <br/>Reach me at <b>https://rewriteparagraph.tumblr.com/</b><br/>Check out Cypherparadox at <b>https://cypherparadox.tumblr.com/</b></p><p>Do not post this work to another site. If I want my stuff on Wattpad or Fanfiction.net then <b>I'll</b> post it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>123</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>MADE FOR THE HUNT</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>
  <strong>::</strong>
</h1>
<h1>
  <strong>MADE FOR THE HUNT</strong>
</h1>
<h1>
  <strong>::</strong>
</h1><p> </p><p>
  <em>He said:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I wish I had that ability you have.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I think I am made for the hunt.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But now</em>
</p><p>
  <em>there is no hunt.</em>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Excerpt from 'Hunting'</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Lonnie Hicks</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Cypherparadox Prompt</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>“Before there was Voldemort, there was Grindelwald, a dark wizard who started a war with the muggles and nomajs. With magic now known to the non magicals, it comes with it the need for secrecy.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>To put it simply, witches and wizards are being hunted down for experiments and execution.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Harry Potter's parents were executed when he was only a baby after the British government found them in possession of magical texts. Instead of killing baby Harry, they placed him in an orphanage. The same orphanage that one Tom Riddle lives in.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What follows is enemies to friends to lovers as they try to band together to bring the Wizarding world back together.”</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p><strong>Pain. </strong>Pain upon pain.</p><p>‘How long do you think this one will last?’ A voice echoed down the cold, dank hall. ‘Did you see how he held it together under the last treatment? Scally’s got good odds on this one.’</p><p>‘I hope it doesn’t.’ Another sneered. ‘Filthy things trying to steal from us because they can move things with their minds.’ He said before Harry heard coins rattling.</p><p>‘Oh, it’s more than that, isn’t it? Like last week, I heard they when they go <em>barmy </em>and kill folk with a gaze.’</p><p>‘Wouldn’t surprise me. Nothing would now.’</p><p>His arm was white hot, his torso crushed, his legs…he couldn’t move them. Couldn’t move anything, even if he could get past the <em>pain-pain-pain. </em></p><p>‘Can’t be many of them left, eh?’ The first voice asked, worried.</p><p>‘Soon there won’t be. Magic Control and the Hunters says there’s only a few pockets of them left up North.’</p><p>‘Well, as long as none of them rats are down here, I don’t give a toss.’</p><p>‘But they can breed, they can make more.’</p><p>‘Yeah – I suppose. Nothing to worry about for much longer.’ The man chortled.</p><p>Then Harry heard screams, new screams, that weren’t his own or his faceless cellmates.</p><p>‘Witch. <em>Witch!’ </em></p><p>Harry grinned. It turned feral when he smelled the blood too.</p><p>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p><strong>‘How</strong> much further?’</p><p>‘Not sure…but the Loch is just there.’ Tom pointed to the dark waters churning with the high, whipping winds they could spy in the distance.</p><p>Harry nodded and pulled his scarf tighter around him before flipping his hood up too for good measure. His eyes scanned the horizon, hoping to suddenly see it. Neither Harry nor Tom had ever seen wards in action, but they knew the general premise; they wouldn’t see a thing until they crossed its boundary.</p><p>If they ever happened upon it.</p><p><em>When. </em>Harry corrected himself.</p><p>The last five weeks had been fuelled entirely by hope and a burning need to discover.</p><p>Tom and Harry had run away from the orphanage about a year ago; Tom’s birthday had been quickly approaching and with it the looming boot from Matron Cole’s so-called <em>pious hospitality. </em></p><p>It hadn’t been a difficult decision to leave Wool’s Orphanage, not with its sneering Matrons shrieking about <em>devilment </em>and <em>evil, </em>or its children – thieves, crying bullies, or helpless victims. Years of its austere and gloomy rooms that never heard laughter or happiness had led both Tom and Harry to realise that <em>anything </em>would have been better. Though, maybe not Magical Prison, Harry reminded himself as he rubbed at the long scar on his forearm.</p><p>And for the most part, living out in the wilderness had been somewhat pleasant. Even being stuck in a small tent with stolen rations warmed over small fires had been positively wonderful when compared to the dangers the Orphanage presented. Though a small part of Harry had been glad he’s be dumped in there as a babe. Because without Wool’s, there would be no Tom.</p><p>Harry lifted his head to watch him now; a sure, solid back with confident steps always moving forward, even when everything else was miserable and everything seemed pointless.</p><p>It was Tom who had discovered Platform 9 3/4 by mistake. They had both been begging the morning crowds for what little they would willingly part with. Begging had always been humiliating, more so when they became older. It was part and parcel of Wool’s during war time; there was never enough to go around, Mrs Cole needed drink money, and if you wanted a roof over your head you needed to grease her gin-soaked palm.</p><p>Tom and Harry had been particularly brilliant at convincing stupid adults to part with their money. A petted lip, and batted lash, curling in on one’s self to induce pity at how pathetic and pitiful it looked. All these things made people want to seem charitable, to made them think they had done their godly act of the day. It was Tom who sometimes employed something seedier. That was something Harry had never been comfortable watching or doing. But, what Harry had learned from Tom ultimately saved him.</p><p>The last time they begged, Harry had watched as Tom had leaned against a wall in frustration after a morning of piss poor offerings, only to sink right through said wall.</p><p>Taking a leap of faith, they jumped right through, only to find a hidden and horridly dusty platform. On the platform they found a red train, slightly rusted by still beautiful to behold.</p><p>‘Harry. It’s real. I think we’ve found Hogwarts.’ Tom had whispered fervently.</p><p>That night they had poured over the scant number of magic books they had pinched over the years, giddy and impatient with their schemes and plans.</p><p>Now, as young men, they were pursuing the dreams they had conjured almost a decade ago.</p><p>Following the tracks, they had finally happened on a bridge, a massive hulking structure with huge arches built over a grey river. Here, the train tracks they had been following were higher off the ground. Instead of vaulting over them, Tom instead climbed to the bridge wall, walking beside that instead.</p><p>Harry looked behind him and furrowed his brow at the sky.</p><p>‘We should set up camp soon. It’s getting dark.’</p><p>Tom looked behind at Harry, his eyes flashing with impatience and annoyance.</p><p>‘Or we could keep going. It’s close.’</p><p>Unsure, Harry jogged forward to the end of the bridge, stepping on top of the train bridge wall. Peering over at the Loch, Harry tried to get a sense of distance. The body of water was huge and gave the illusion it was closer because of it.</p><p>‘Can you walk for another eight?’ Harry hollered back at Tom, who was also peering over the bridge.</p><p>‘Miles? Yes. Hours?’ Tom hesitated. ‘Maybe.’ He settled on with a wince.</p><p>‘Hours.’ Harry confirmed as Tom caught up with him.</p><p>Walking side by side Harry now noticed the slight grimace on Tom’s face every time he settled weight on his left leg. He also noted how gaunt Tom’s features had become in these last few weeks. A product of too little food and too much walking.</p><p>Harry huffed then veered off the tracks and walked down into a small valley before dumping his backpack.</p><p>‘Camp here tonight. We can walk the rest tomorrow.’ Harry stated.</p><p>‘We can keep going.’ Tom said through gritted teeth.</p><p>‘Not with that.’ Harry pointed at Tom’s leg.</p><p>Tom turned quickly, obviously trying to hide the flash of rage that must have crossed his features then.</p><p>Harry sighed. ‘I’ll set up. You to rest up. I refuse to carry dead weight.’</p><p>It might have sounded harsh, but sometimes cold logic was the only way to get Tom through one of these fits of temper he was currently trying to hide.</p><p>Tom had calmed down somewhat by the time Harry was hammering in the last tent pegs down. The rain had started again, and Harry’s hands were shaking.</p><p>Without looking at him, Tom made his way inside.</p><p>With narrowed eyes, and a quick search to make sure there were alone, Harry raised a hand. He thought of dry timber and larger pieces of wood before snapping his eyes open with a command; <em>come. </em></p><p>From all directions small pieces of wood flew toward the tent before landing in front of Harry. He quickly arranged the pieces as they arrived and after the last log was settled, he snapped his fingers and the whole thing set aflame.</p><p>‘You never listen.’ Tom said lowly behind Harry. ‘They watch for stuff like that.’</p><p>‘It’s raining in the arse end of nowhere. I’ll take my chances.’ Harry parried levelly.</p><p>Harry quickly burrowed into the tent, ignoring Tom’s glare. He heated up small food packages they had stolen from the back end of an army van. Shoving one of the foiled packages at Tom, Harry then went to inhaling his own tasteless mush.</p><p>They were both silent. The roar of the wind, rain and soft rattle of the lamp was enough to make it bearable. He and Tom were both tired, sore, and now impatient – a terrible mix of emotions between two quick-tempered, stubborn young men. </p><p>With a flick of his wrist, Harry made the tent warmer before taking off his sodden clothes. Wool was a terrible fabric for cross-country trekking, but it was all that they had.</p><p>Even though they had shared a room at the Orphanage, he and Tom had not been close. Not close enough to remain uninhibited or not embarrassed when changing clothes. Having known each other for years, they had only until recently merely tolerated each other.</p><p>Tom had always been a curiosity to Harry. As a young boy he had been a perpetual dark cloud and a source of anxiety for the other children. After having moved from his previous Orphanage, St Brutus’ Institute, one of the first things Harry had heard at Wool’s was to associate the name ‘Tom Riddle’ with a danger he better stay clear of.</p><p>But Harry had been treated the same at St Brutus’ and thus didn’t give any credence to the whispers of bored children. </p><p>It wasn’t until Tom had caught Harry that they ever entertain the notions of getting to know one another.</p><p>There was a small cupboard in their shared room, one that Matron Cole often shoved them in if they had been ‘misbehaving’. It was a place that Harry knew Tom avoided like the plague and thus, very private. Safe even.</p><p>It was the perfect place to practice his secret in secret. And it was also a good place to stow himself away if he couldn’t keep a lid on himself, like when he was angry or terribly sad. He couldn’t control <em>it </em>then, whatever this was - madness perhaps.</p><p>Harry had heard whispers of boys and girls like him going missing in the night and the terrible things that would happen to them. The Brits and the Germans were both guilty of trying to force an advantage wherever they could find one.</p><p>Even if it meant ripping children from their beds, then tearing them to shreds afterwards.</p><p>Tom had discovered him on one such night where Harry had lost control.</p><p>Billy Stubbs had taken the nip with Harry over whose turn it was to scrub the floors in the boy’s bathroom. After Matron Cole had agreed it was Stubbs turn, he’d opted to stab Harry’s thigh at dinner with a fork. Harry had tried to hide himself away in the cupboard, lest everything around him smashed and cracked like it had at St Brutus’ before he was kicked out.</p><p>Unbeknownst to Harry, Tom had followed him once he’d seen sharp fractures appear on his brown glass cup.</p><p>Harry couldn’t remember a lot from that evening except a pair of too-warm arms wrapped around him and a slow sway back and forth as Harry tried to swallow an age-old hate and hurt.</p><p>He did remember how the cupboard door looked as if someone had taken a torch to it afterwards and how Tom’s clothes were singed in place and torn in others.</p><p>‘You’re like me.’ Tom had said to a silent Harry.</p><p>Still bundled up in a corner, Harry found he still couldn’t look at the strange, tense boy sitting on the bed across the room.</p><p>‘In what way?’ Harry said.</p><p>‘You know what way.’ Tom stated.</p><p>It was a few beats of strained quiet Harry saw a pair of footsteps approach him.</p><p>Then Tom crouched and was face-to-face with Harry who shuffled back nervously. Tom shushed Harry with a frown before lifting a hand to him. Harry flinched but was then quickly transfixed on the bed across from them – a bed which was the floating a metre in the air.</p><p>‘I’m like you.’ Tom echoed. ‘We are the same.’ He whispered as the bed softly lowered before landing with a small <em>thump. </em></p><p>It had been years since then. The war was still tearing through Europe. And now Harry thought that they had glued themselves together that day in promises and vows.</p><p>
  <em>We will never hurt each other. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>We will always protect ourselves. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>We will never abandon the other. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>We will always have each other. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>We will never be alone again.</em>
</p><p>These were all promises they had upheld. Even if it was practically suicide to do so.</p><p>Like how Tom risked his life and sanity to save Harry’s. The thought made Harry’s forearm ache and itch again.</p><p>Harry saw Tom pull a heavy book out of his bag as he settled on his side. It was <em>the </em>book, the one that had started this insanity.</p><p>
  <em>Hogwarts: A History. </em>
</p><p>A book they had pilfered from a pile the Witch Hunters had made after raiding Christie Moat’s houses back when they were young boys. Harry remembered hoping her and her family had escaped, but from the blood on the door, he now knew he’d been wishing for nought.</p><p>The book was an instant sentence in Magical Prison. Hogwarts, a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a fable among those who hid themselves from the Witch Hunters and their informers. It was a sort of nirvana, or a mirage, Harry thought. But it was one that he truly believed was real, just like that fact he could do magic, or that werewolves and mermaid existed. One that had been home to thousands of their kind over the ages, before those without Magic had found them all and started hunting them down.</p><p>‘Hogsmeade shouldn’t be far.’ Tom said, suddenly breaking the silence.</p><p>‘Think we will reach it by tomorrow evening?’ Harry asked, his back turned to Tom.</p><p>‘I hope.’ Tom said softly.</p><p>Harry then sat up and dug into his backpack. He pulled out a capsicum balm before pulling Tom’s leg towards him. Harry’s eyes widened momentarily when he found the leg already bare, but then quickly schooled his featured so Tom wouldn’t notice his disquiet.</p><p>Tom had made to jerk his leg back before Harry stared him out while opening the pot of balm. With a huffed Tom sank backwards, careful to avoid the tent walls which would have soaked him if he leaned too hard on them.</p><p>‘Where does it hurt?’ Harry murmured.</p><p>Tom sneered before answering, a strange redness broke across his features.</p><p>‘My thigh.’</p><p>Harry merely nodded with downturned eyes and shuffled forward. With small, hesitant motions, Harry slowly warmed the capsicum between his hands, its scent filling the space between them.</p><p>Touching Tom’s skin always left Harry feeling a little lost, and this time was no different. He hissed when Harry grasped just above his knee and started kneading the muscle there. Ignoring his own stomach, Harry pushed, pulled, squeezed, and pressed with a blank mind. He purposefully kept his eyes from straying anywhere except where his hands were immediately rubbing. Any higher, Harry would flush, any lower, Harry would notice where Tom’s leg was resting upon his own.</p><p>The last month had been a lesson in maintaining distance in close proximity.</p><p>Harry knew Tom only suffered him because they were of a likeness. They shared this gift between them, more than that, they shared in the paranoia and fear of being discovered whilst being blown away from what it offered them. If Harry had been Muggle, Tom wouldn’t have looked at him twice.</p><p>Tom would never think that they were equals. He would never entertain notions like affection, warmth, or gentleness. Harry was a means to an end and a potential partner for the crimes he wanted to commit.</p><p>Harry knew all of this, but the battered, withered thing in his chest did not.</p><p>Letting his own heartbeat calm, Harry pushed the magic in him palms down into Tom’s leg. Warming, cooling, soothing. Wishing the pain away, wanting nothing more than Tom to sink into deep comfort.</p><p>‘Don’t do that.’ Tom said lowly.</p><p>‘Why not?’ Harry asked with forced detachment.</p><p>‘…It feels strange.’</p><p>Harry eyes crept up to Tom’s face unbidden. He was looking away from Harry into the back corner of the tent, his brow was furrowed but otherwise he was holding himself as if he were made of stone.</p><p>‘It’s no different from using the balm. Not between us anyway.’</p><p>‘It’s…never mind.’ Tom deflated – a sure sign of his fatigue, otherwise Tom was the proverbial dog with bone.</p><p>Harry kept up the task of slowly easing the muscle which felt…strained? Cramped? It didn’t feel torn or broken to Harry’s magic; a healing skill which Tom couldn’t seem to wrap his head around. Instead, Tom’s talents lay in the subversion and dominance of anyone and everything around him. Except Harry apparently, much to Tom’s obvious disgust.</p><p>When Harry’s hands had began their slow ascent to the top of Tom’s thigh, Harry felt eyes on him. He kept his expression shut off and nonchalant, forcing the need to show care and concern back into himself. Tom wouldn’t appreciate it. In fact, Tom would probably maim Harry if he ever found out how deep those sorts of feelings went.</p><p>More secrets on top of secrets.</p><p>With that, Harry moved back from Tom and rubbed his hands on a small washcloth that was not doing a very good job of cleaning anything by now.</p><p>Without ceremony, Harry turned and wrapped himself in his sleeping blankets before casting another surge of warmth through the tent.</p><p>He still felt eyes on his back as he tried to drift off to sleep.</p><p>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p><strong>By </strong>next afternoon, they had reached what they thought was Hogsmeade.</p><p>Harry and Tom were still gasping from the climb. Having reached the steep summit, the young men had collapsed onto the dewy grass and were panting to get their breath and bearings back.</p><p>‘Water?’ Harry wheezed.</p><p>‘Here.’ Tom threw Harry the water sack after taking a few gulps for himself.</p><p>‘I think I’m ruined.’ Harry announced. ‘My legs must surely be on fire.’</p><p>‘Let’s not do that again.’ Tom said before lifting his injured leg and rubbing it in frustration.</p><p>Out the corner of his eye, Harry saw Tom slowly raise himself onto his hands and knees before the young man’s face jerked and his eyes suddenly widened.</p><p>‘It’s here.’ Tom said breathlessly.</p><p>Now a little shaken that Harry had finally seen such a display of emotion on Tom’s otherwise permanently stoic face, Harry whipped around to stare at the space around them.</p><p>In front, a little ways ahead was a small town in a steep valley. From here Harry could see a blanket of dark roofs and spires above the pale cladding of cottages held together with pitchy black beams of thick wood.</p><p>It was a village that spoke of an old way of life, one that had been lost to them all, one that Harry and Tom desperately wanted to find again. One that stood on an impossibly steep incline and upon which houses were balanced precariously like little matchstick boxes.</p><p>With a surge of optimism, Harry shot up and hauled Tom up too, holding him up with an arm at his waist.</p><p>They quickly shuffled towards the nearest buildings.</p><p>‘The Hog’s Head.’ Harry pointed out in a rush when he saw the swinging, blackened sign.</p><p>Harry could feel Tom’s chest rasp with quickened breath before the young man pushed off of him with shaky legs and a look of wonder staining his features.</p><p>‘This is it.’ He breathed in such a manner that it made Harry grin, his chest bloom, and dismiss his aches and pains.</p><p><em>‘This is it!’ </em>Harry crowed as he ran forward, racing to the long road that Hogsmeade nestled itself around.</p><p>‘Scrivenshaft’s.’ Harry called back to Tom who also seemed to become lighter, walking with an almost skip in his step.</p><p>‘Gladrags…<em>Honeydukes!’ </em>Tom said, delighted.</p><p>Harry ran forward, his eyes scrawling across every surface, his cheeks hurting.</p><p>‘Dervish and Banges.’ Harry murmured to himself. He then gasped as he surged forwards into the shop.</p><p>Wrenching open the yellow door, Harry’s heart sang with the mess that greeted him. Shelves and boxes, all piled in higgledy-piggledy towers, all heaving with <em>stuff </em>and <em>things </em>that Harry wanted to tear into.</p><p>Harry dove into a search, trying to quickly figure the order of everything.</p><p>
  <em>Dark Detectors, Remembralls, Sneakoscopes, Invisibility Cloaks, Wizard Watches. </em>
</p><p>But Harry ignored all of that, for now. He tore through aisle after aisle until his eyes settled upon his prize.</p><p>
  <em>Wands</em>
</p><p>
  <em>New, Used, and Ready-Made to Order. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Inquire at the front desk or with the shop clerk. </em>
</p><p>‘Wands.’ Harry breathed. <em>‘Wands!’ </em>He shouted, his excitement now making him feel dizzy.</p><p>Then Harry heard Tom come crashing towards him, his own glee making him uncharacteristically undignified.</p><p>‘You found them?’ Harry heard Tom babble.</p><p>‘Here.’ Harry hauled a box over to Tom before forcing one of the wand display cases open violently.</p><p>‘How does this work?’ Harry asked quickly.</p><p>‘They choose us.’ Tom murmured while staring at the box in front of him.</p><p>Harry wondered for a moment if that is what love looked like on his face.</p><p>‘Hold them.’ Tom instructed as he started shuffling through the box.</p><p>Harry turned to the cabinet but jumped out of his skin when boxes on the shelf behind him burst open.</p><p>‘Oh.’ Tom said before Harry turned to see him looking between the wand and the damage with incredulity.</p><p>‘Not that one then.’ Tom said to himself then dove into the box again, overeager.</p><p>Harry took the first wand that caught his eye, a handsome polished thing carved from some sort of sage-green wood.</p><p>‘What did you do?’ He asked, eyeing the carnage that Tom was quickly creating behind them.</p><p>‘Flicked it before pointing at something.’ He did just that seconds later, only to cause a tower of books to rumble then sway precariously. With a furrowed brow, Tom discarded the wand to a pile that rested at Harry’s feet.</p><p>Harry did as Tom directed with the sage wand, only to cause the tower of books to finally avalanche.</p><p>Wand after wand, Harry and Tom created havoc around them. The shop was in complete disarray after ten minutes of searching through the generous pile of wands.</p><p>Then, almost at the same time, Harry and Tom found theirs.</p><p>Tom was first, with a flick of his wrist a deep amber light surrounded him, sending the hairs on Harry’s arms standing. Then with the next wand Harry absentmindedly pulled from the fourth box he tried, a bright golden, almost white light enveloped him making Harry yelp with the suddenness of it.</p><p>A feeling of complete wholeness travelled through him then. </p><p>A single perfect moment.</p><p><em>‘Yes.’ </em>Tom said, echoing what the entirety of Harry’s thoughts and body were screaming.</p><p>‘We found them.’ Harry started chuckling which climbed to uproarious laughter when the joy and elation sank into him.</p><p>‘Now all we need are some spells.’ Harry mused, still a little breathless.</p><p>Tom and Harry paused, then turned to the other, sharing a look of dawning realisation before suddenly running over to the pile of books they had disturbed.</p><p>Harry coughed when a cloud of dust rose from the heap. Picking up a few books, he looked for anything that hinted at spell casting or wielding a wand.</p><p>‘<em>Arithmancy for the Modern Wizard</em> – nope. <em>Gala Customs for Wizarding Gentile – </em>no. <em>Wand and Witch, a guide to Womanly Ways – </em>Oh, God no.’ Tom threw the book away in disgust.</p><p>‘What about…<em>Stir It: Potions Recipes to Keep You Active.</em>’ Harry tried.</p><p>‘I…no.’ Tom merely shook his head, seemingly flummoxed by the strange titles.</p><p>‘Ah, here! <em>Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six.’ </em>Tom announced, his hands and eyes greedily taking in and opening the book.</p><p>‘Grade Six? There must be more then. <em>Ah-ha! </em>Here’s Grade Two! And…<em>The Book of Charms and Spells. </em>How is that any different?’ Harry mused. ‘And here, <em>The Book of Spells.</em>’</p><p>Harry then looked up at Tom, who was smiling with pinkened cheeks and bright eyes. The sight caused Harry to freeze, his body becoming too still as Tom held his gaze.</p><p>‘We found it Harry. It’s all here.’ He said. ‘They can’t hurt us now.’ Tom whispered, his voice thick with emotion.</p><p>In the five years Harry had known Tom, really known him, this was the first time Harry had seen him truly happy. And the sight of it was heart wrenching.</p><p>Harry turned away as Tom stood and walked over to another pile of books and strange items.</p><p>After some time of them searching and gathering items, such as a bag charmed to hold an infinite number of items and a couple of bracelets that made people ignore you, Harry moved to the window.</p><p>‘Tom? Come here.’</p><p>As Harry felt a new warmth at his back, he pointed at a shape in the distance.</p><p>‘Can you see that? The way the sky is distorted?’ Harry asked.</p><p>Tom moved forward, his body pushing into Harry’s, as he tried to get a better view. Harry closed his eyes against the sensation, smothering his reaction to it down.</p><p>‘Wards.’ Tom breathed in Harry’s ear, so lightly that it made Harry break out in gooseflesh.</p><p>‘Hogwarts?’ Harry asked with the same, small quietness.</p><p>In his periphery, Harry could see Tom nod slowly.</p><p>‘It’s getting dark. Should we stay here, collect more stuff, or make our way up?’</p><p>‘We could do both. I haven’t seen a soul.’ Tom’s arm reached past Harry to swipe at the dust and cobwebs on the windowpane. ‘Neither has Hogsmeade for quite some time, it seems.’</p><p>‘Where did they all go, do you think?’</p><p>‘Abroad. As quickly as they could.’ Tom asserted. ‘It’s only Britain - the European Wizards contained it with something - some sort of Muggle Deterrent Ward.’</p><p>‘Nothing in, nothing out.’ Harry recounted with a nod.</p><p>Harry remembered the neighbourhood Squib rambling on about it while drunk at three o’clock in the afternoon. It hadn’t taken a seven-year-old Tom much to get the guy to spill his secrets, it never did really. The Squib handed over facts and sensitive information over like one would sweets at Halloween. All Tom had to do was bat a lash before the man was telling them both about a war, a Hungarian wizard who’d usurped everything and led them to their doom, about everyone fleeing, and foreign Wizarding Governments trapping those who remained in – namely Muggle-raised Wizards like Harry and Tom.</p><p>‘Right. Gather what we need from here, then we’ll take a hike up. Maybe try to find some food and shelter if we can’t get to it tonight.’ Harry said.</p><p>Harry moved as if to step back from the window, but he only pushed back into Tom more.</p><p>‘Tom?’ Harry asked as he quickly turned.</p><p>Then, Harry was face-to-face with him. So terribly close. Tom stared at Harry, an unfathomable look crossed his features before he took Harry’s arm, bringing it up between them.</p><p>‘What’s your wand made of?’ Tom asked as he gestured to the wand gripped in the hand Tom was now holding. </p><p>After a small pause, Harry turned to look down at a small handwritten tag still tied to the bottom of his wand.</p><p>
  <em>Holly, Eleven Inches, Phoenix Feather</em>
</p><p>Harry showed Tom the tag, who then nodded as if it confirmed somethings.</p><p>‘And yours?’ Harry probed, strangely nervous.</p><p>‘Yew, Thirteen-and-a-half, Phoenix Feather.’</p><p>Harry looked at the back of his tag.</p><p>‘Ha! Mine says it rejected its previous owner in…1937.’</p><p>‘Mine did too - same year.’ Tom said haltingly as a strange look crossed his features.</p><p>‘Must happen pretty often then.’ Harry tried, even though an odd feeling settled in his gut.</p><p>Tom merely nodded and then finally moved back from Harry, letting the slightly shorter man breathe.</p><p>‘We would have been eleven.’ Tom said as Harry made his way to the door, grabbing his new, infinite rucksack on the way.</p><p>Harry paused, the disquiet within him grew as he stared at the wand in his hand.</p><p>‘When we should have got them.’ Harry said to himself. ‘Isn’t magic strange?’ Harry said, louder now. ‘Onwards and upwards then?’ He called back to Tom who was now looking between their wands, his face mirroring the sensation of <em>strange-strange-strange </em>echoing in Harry’s gut.</p><p>‘Yes, lead the way.’ Tom said distractedly.</p><p>Harry was about to exit before a glint of metal caught his eye. He turned quickly and jogged to a book shining in the late afternoon sun.</p><p>
  <em>Magic Moste Evile by Godelot</em>
</p><p>He hummed slightly before dumping the book in his rucksack and then joined Tom in scouring the rest of the shops for food and other provisions.</p><p>After, the walk up the hill was silent. Both Harry and Tom’s minds were whirling with what they had discovered so far, and what it would mean for their immediate futures.</p><p>‘Do you think anyone is in the castle?’</p><p>‘Maybe, the wards still seem to be working. I suspect Muggles can’t seem them at all.’ Tom said as he walked at Harry’s side, their arms brushing.</p><p>Harry looked back at the small village, how it seemed no one had set foot in it for years, and thought Tom was being the optimistic one for once.</p><p>‘I wonder if they will let us in regardless. If I were them, I wouldn’t.’</p><p>Tom huffed a thin laugh.</p><p>‘It’s a school for children. I’m assuming those still stuck in there might have a soft spot for young, avid learners.’</p><p>‘Oh, so that’s how you’ll frame it.’ Harry said dryly.</p><p>‘It’s the truth, we want to learn, we’ll do so enthusiastically.’</p><p>Harry thought about the wants and wishes Tom had mentioned over the years and thought that Wizards who’d opted to hide from Muggles were probably not keen on planning to cull them. Such things tended to draw attention. Even Harry was unsure, and he hated most Muggles he’d met so far. The Dursley’s, the matron, the orphans, the prison guards. All of them made Harry sick to his stomach and his arm ache with phantom pain.</p><p>‘I think I’d like to see the Astronomy Tower. Maybe see if there are a few brooms in a cupboard somewhere.’</p><p>‘Potions,’ Tom sighed. ‘The Slytherin Dorms might be interesting too.’</p><p>‘We should explore all of them. Or maybe we won’t get to choose with the Sorting Hat and all.’</p><p>‘<em>If</em> there even is anyone so put it on our heads.’</p><p>‘If.’ Harry echoed with a nod. ‘Though, I might try it out anyway.’ He smiled. ‘No need to put it on yours – a Slytherin down to the bone, you are.’</p><p>‘I should hope so. If I were to be put into Hufflepuff, I’d have serious questions.’</p><p>‘Loyal and hard working?’ Harry snorted. ‘Qualities you’d find agreeable in a minion, more like.’</p><p>Tom clicked his fingers. ‘That’s it! You’ll be a Hufflepuff.’</p><p>‘I’m not your minion.’ Harry frowned with distaste. ‘I’ve seen enough of you to be wholly disillusioned.’</p><p>‘So, you’ve seen all of me then?’</p><p>Tom voice had changed utterly. What was before light and skipping, how now dark, heavy, and a burdensome rattle in Harry’s chest.</p><p>‘Most of you.’ Harry offered after a slight pause.</p><p>Before Tom could reply, Harry pushed forward, climbing up the incline at a speed that belied his earlier exhaustion.</p><p>‘Maybe you’re just as much a snake as I am Harry.’ Tom called forward, something intense lingering in the spaces between his words.</p><p>‘I’m not the one who can speak to them!’ Harry joked lightly to cover the swooping sensations in his chest.</p><p>These episodes had been getting worse. Harry couldn’t put a finger on when it had started, but now he knew he was in deep. He was used to keeping secrets and keeping them well hidden. But the ache he felt whenever Tom looked at him, touched him, or crept up close to Harry was tearing him apart at the seams. It felt like he’d burst with it, and then Tom would never look at him again.</p><p>It was dirty, and far more freakish that the magic at his fingertips.</p><p>He’d never tell Tom because he couldn’t lose him to something as asinine as <em>feelings. </em></p><p>Harry then heard Tom hiss something; the sibilant sounds wrapped themselves around him, as if crawling up the inside of his thighs.</p><p>‘What was that?’ Harry asked as if truly disinterested.</p><p>‘I shan’t tell you; I might offend you delicate Hufflepuff sensibilities.’</p><p>There is was again, the same husky tone, thick and dark like cigarette smoke.</p><p>There were times that Tom, like his namesake, spoke in intricate puzzles and challenges. He would push and prod at Harry, trying to discover something Harry could never identify until it was too late, and he’d already revealed it. But after five weeks of living on top of one another, they had become more frequent, and nothing made Harry more nervous.</p><p>He knew Tom was not above faking interest and intimacy to get Harry to reveal a few layers before trapping him under his thumb. Harry had to thank Tom for the healthy dose of self-preservation he’d imparted; he would never be Tom’s slave, not even in return for all the tenderness in the world.</p><p>‘A Hufflepuff wouldn’t survive you.’ Harry said as he clambered over tree roots before turning slightly into what looked to be an old path. ‘So, which is it? Hufflepuff or Slytherin.’</p><p>‘Neither.’ Tom answered. ‘You’re more like a chameleon.’</p><p>‘Another reptile. Is that so different from a snake?’</p><p>‘Yes. Snakes warn others off. You merely hide in plain view, reflecting what you think others would rather see.’</p><p>Harry would have stopped and stumbled if he’d been a weaker man. Tom sounded dangerously close to hinting that Harry was hiding something. No, that is <em>exactly </em>what was happening. He knew Tom wanted him to ask why he thought that about Harry so that Tom could manoeuvre him into revealing exactly what he might be hiding. But that wasn’t going to happen. Tom was not as smart as he thought he was.</p><p>‘I’ll take it as a compliment then?’ Harry said with an audible full stop. ‘Here – this path seems to be heading in the right direction. It used to see heavy footfall.’ Harry mused aloud as he pointed out the deep bevel of the pathway.</p><p>They walked in silence again for another twenty minutes. Harry could feel Tom’s irritation from five paces away, as evidenced from the eyes that bore into the back of his skull. Harry was apt at cloaking himself in pretend ignorance.</p><p><em>It’ll keep us both happy if you do not pry, Tom. </em>Harry thought about saying exactly that. He wished to, all whilst knowing in tandem that he’d never have the courage nor inclination to broach the subject lingering between them.</p><p>
  <em>Better to pretend it doesn’t exist, than suffer him knowing. </em>
</p><p>Either way, it was suffering.</p><p>The sun had really set by the time Harry heard Tom gasp.</p><p>‘Do you feel that Harry?’</p><p>Harry could <em>see </em>it.</p><p>He dropped his rucksack and then took several steps forward. The air in front of him looked like a mirage, like the ground was suddenly too hot for the cold winds that Harry felt ruffling his hair then.</p><p>Reaching a hand out, Harry went to touch it. It looked like it’d feel like silk, smooth and liquid against his skin.</p><p><em>‘Don’t,’ </em>Tom hissed as he snatched at Harry’s splayed fingers.</p><p>Harry turned to him and saw Tom’s eyes flash in lividity.</p><p>‘We don’t know if it’d harm us.’ Tom spat before throwing Harry’s hand.</p><p>Swallowing against a wave of hot anger and humiliation, Harry forcibly turned back to the wards a foot in front of him.</p><p>‘We would be seventh years.’ Harry said after he’d fully cooled down.</p><p>Harry saw Tom stare at the ward, his wand tapping off his thigh. The <em>snap-snap-slap </em>sound of it reverberated around Harry’s head. Just as Harry was about to snap at Tom to stop it, Tom suddenly lurched forward, throwing himself against the hazy wall.</p><p><em>‘What? NO!’ </em>Harry lunged after Tom, his arms seeking to grab him back.</p><p>From one second to the next, Tom had vanished. And in that small moment Harry went from quietly irritated to terrified.</p><p>‘Tom. <em>Tom?’ </em>Harry shouted, panic clawing at his throat. <em>‘Tom!’ </em></p><p>Then a pale, svelte hand reached out right in front of him, it took his cheek first in a soft caress before it slid into his palm and pulled him forward.</p><p>It took him through the distorted space and then Harry was mere inches away from black eyes and heated breath.</p><p>Harry then saw red.</p><p>He pushed at Tom, his face contorting so much that it was near unrecognisable.</p><p>‘How dare you?’ Harry growled. ‘You fucking <em>idiot.’ </em></p><p>Tom had the cheek to look exhilarated and smile.</p><p>‘Got the job done, didn’t it?’ Tom parried.</p><p>‘You could have been hurt.’ Harry pushed Tom again, this time he stumbled back.</p><p>‘Well, you made a valid point – I’m sure the wards a predisposed to let young witches and wizards in.’</p><p>‘You’re a moron.’ Harry bared his teeth. ‘You could have died. I could have lost you and you don’t know what that would’ve – <em>fuck!’ </em></p><p>Harry quickly turned to retrieve their bags before moving past the ward and Tom and heading towards the castle which now loomed in the distance.</p><p>‘Finish that sentence.’ Tom demanded, as if he had any right to poke and prod at Harry.</p><p>‘Fuck off Tom. Seriously.’</p><p>‘Tell me what you were about to say.’ Tom pushed, his steps close behind Harry’s own.</p><p>Harry spun around, making Tom stumble back slightly.</p><p>‘Is that why you did it?’ Harry rushed Tom, forcing him back. ‘You need me to say it?’ Harry shoved at Tom again. ‘You fucking risked yourself, risked everything because – what? You’re feeling insecure?’</p><p>‘You never say anything!’ Tom shot back. ‘Not one fucking thing!’</p><p>‘What do you want? To tell you that you are needed, wanted? Do you need constant reaffirmation or else you’re going to off yourself Tom?’ Harry seethed, now a breath away as he clamped on the space between Tom’s neck and shoulder. ‘I’ve made promises to you that I would make with anyone else. Not for the world. Doesn’t that tell you enough?’</p><p>‘You’ve kept promises, but you keep secrets too, Harry.’ Tom said as Harry pushed away from him.</p><p>‘Which is my right.’ Harry backed away more.</p><p>‘Not when they concern me.’</p><p>‘Who fucking said they concern you?’</p><p>‘You did.’ Tom pushed up and moved closer to Harry. ‘Every minute, every hour.’ He pulled Harry’s head closer by his neck. So close Harry could see the webbed pattern in Tom’s black irises. ‘Everyday since the Prison.’</p><p>Harry froze and stared. Until now neither of them had mentioned those three awful days. Nor had Tom mentioned the weeks after where Harry didn’t know which way was up, feverish, and broken.</p><p>Harry scrambled back, but Tom followed him, his eyes, mouth, and hand maintaining their perilous proximity.</p><p>‘Don’t Tom. Please don’t.’</p><p>‘You’ve dreamed about it, Harry.’ Tom breathed.  ‘You seek me out at night – your body, your mind, your hands. Always reaching out, always calling.’ Tom said, his voice breaking towards the end.</p><p>Harry paled; his throat constricted.</p><p>‘You’ve already shown me everything, now you can say it Harry.’ Tom said softly as he reached forward before Harry shoved his hand away.</p><p>‘And what good would it do?’ Harry asked darkly. ‘Except give you another button to press an advantage, to lord over me.’</p><p>Tom stilled on his haunches, looking over Harry.</p><p>His eyes glinted before he shoved Harry back onto the ground. Tom grabbed at Harry’s hand, pining it down below his knee before he took out a silver knife Harry had never seen before.</p><p>‘Wha – Tom. Stop. Tom what are you doing? <em>Stop!’ </em></p><p>Harry watched in horror as Tom sliced his own palm with the knife. His blood dripping onto Harry’s chest.</p><p>‘Tom, <em>please </em>Tom. I – stop.’ Harry begged, his voice growing terribly quiet.</p><p>‘I’ve seen it Harry. You’d give everything, <em>everything, </em>for me. You’d fight for me, <em>die </em>for me. And yet, you’ll never give me this. <em>You don’t trust me with it.’ </em>Tom hissed.</p><p>‘Tom – I-.’</p><p>‘I’ll make you trust me.’ Tom interrupted as he grabbed Harry’s palm, bringing the knife to it as Tom’s warm blood trickled down Harry’s wrist.</p><p>‘I do, <em>I do.’ </em>Harry pleaded, trying to pull out of Tom’s iron grip with desperate jerks.</p><p>He grabbed Harry’s head, smearing his blood there too.</p><p>‘You don’t yet, but you will. I’d do anything-.’ Tom audibly swallowed as he took Harry’s bleeding hand again.</p><p>‘I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, pledge myself to one Harry James Potter, in life, in loyalty, in <em>love.’ </em>Tom spoke over Harry, who had frozen as the words sank in and Tom’s magic rose.</p><p>‘I will protect him, I will never abandon him, I will keep him safe – he will never be alone again.’</p><p>Tears broke over Harry’s cheeks as he gazed at Tom’s eyes; they were burning.</p><p>‘He is mine, as much as I am his. Brothers of the soul, of mind. My heart, I will pour myself into you. I will give you <em>everything, </em>Harry<em>.’ </em>Tom spoke the last words almost upon Harry’s lips.</p><p>‘Now, will you?’ He asked.</p><p>Those two words were so awfully simple for the meaning, the vow, the promise they carried with them. Tom waited, searching Harry’s pale face as they both shook, not from pain, but from the weight of their magic and the vow between them.</p><p>He thought then of how Tom had saved him from the Muggles. How he had carried Harry out of a cell that should have been impossible to escape. Harry remembered seeing the bludgeoned Muggle corpses as Tom murmured in his ear - <em>you’re safe now, I have you now. </em>He saw Tom’s face as he’d tended to Harry’s wounds, and shushed his nightmarish screams.</p><p>Tom saved him; he was trying to save <em>everyone. </em>He thought as he looked over Tom’s shoulder at Hogwarts.</p><p>Harry looked between his palm and Tom’s, the word <em>love </em>repeating itself in Tom’s gentle cadence.</p><p>‘Always.’ Harry said, catching Tom’s eye before he took Tom’s palm.</p><p>Their blood melted together, sinking into each other’s flesh, veins, right down into there hearts which now pitter-pattered to the same drum, marching on together.</p><p>Tom grabbed Harry, his mouth hot and wet. They kissed, true on the lips, in the damp, cold air. Dragons breath swirled as they shared air and sunk into one another.</p><p>Harry felt as if he was being shocked as Tom grabbed him tightly, his anchor now in the world, and the next, and the next.</p><p>Tom thumbed away a lone tear that tore down Harry’s cheek as his mouth became more fervent, his tongue evermore demanding.</p><p>‘You’re mine now Harry. Mine.’ He whispered into his kisses as he held Harry’s head in his hands.</p><p>He spoke to Harry like he was praying. He kissed like he’d waited to worship for eons.</p><p>Between them, a vial rose from their blood. A delicate vessel formed of yew and holly amber.</p><p>They held onto it between their clasped palms as Tom pushed into Harry more, stealing both of their breaths.</p><p>Nothing mattered. Not the Muggles, not the hunts, not even their magic, wands, or spells.</p><p>All they knew, all they wanted to know was the taste and feel of the other’s mouth, fingers, and heated skin. <em>Always. </em>Harry had repeated as Tom sank into him and again when Tom bared himself to Harry.</p><p>After, Tom presented Harry with the vial with a pale, tremulous hand.</p><p>‘Keep it safe. My heart.’</p><p>Harry nodded as fresh tears escaped him before Tom pulled him up and dressed them both.</p><p>Together they walked hand in hand to the hulking entrance doors. To their unending surprise, the doors opened for them, revealing bright warm light and a tall figure.</p><p>The figure’s face was obscured in shadows, his head inclined as if regarding where the boy’s hands gripped the other.</p><p>‘Ah, Mr Riddle – Mr Potter. Finally.’ A bearded man with twinkling eyes greeted them.</p><p>‘Come, we have been most anxious to meet you both.’</p><p>
  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Fin.</em>
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  <strong>::</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Hey you!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Did you enjoy that? I bet you did. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>This piece was an exercise in madness. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I may have typed this beast out in under five hours. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>No breaks. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'm a masochist apparently. You learn something new everyday. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I must thank <strong>Cypherparadox </strong>for their freely given prompt. It was so juicy I just had to do something with it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>If you are interested in more self-flagellation, please check out my works 'Rest In Silence' and 'Feral Children'. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>If any of you out there have tasty prompts like the one that inspired this fic, hit me up on <b>https://rewriteparagraph.tumblr.com/</b>!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>If you really, really like this piece, I might do more with it. It was a joy to write. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Toodles, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>For now, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>RewriteParagraph. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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